Plato and the Poets

Veronika Konrádová

The article addresses the issue of Plato´s evaluation of poetic activity. It focuses on two aspects of this issue, namely the transformation of the concept of truth and the agonal character of Plato´s criticism. In the first respect, the article focuses on the relationship between truth and lie, and the Platonic concept of „lies that are like truth“. In the latter respect, it tries to uncover the motivation and character of Plato´s rivalry with the older poetic tradition in connection with the widely elaborated concept of Platonic mimesis. In particular, its ontological-epistemological and ethical-psychological context is analysed here.